Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices to assist a swimmer and more particularly to swimming devices which assist swimmers to train and condition.
A great deal of strength and conditioning is required to swim at a pace that approaches a competitive race (hereinafter "race pace"). Using traditional training methods, it is virtually impossible to maintain this race pace consistently while training and conditioning the swimmer.
A competitive swimmer must coordinate his legs, arms, body rotation and breathing at an extraordinary level to get the maximum forward progress out of each stroke. This extraordinary coordination can only be learned and practiced at speeds approaching race pace because the plane the swimmer makes with the water is different at different speeds. The faster a swimmer's body goes the higher it planes in the water. At race pace, the swimmer's body approaches a parallel plane with the surface of the water. The entry of his arms in the water on the reach portion of a swim stroke is at a very different angle under casual swimming conditions than at race pace. Thus, the necessary sequence of muscular contractions in the muscles of the shoulders and the upper body (hereinafter neuromuscular coordination) that must be developed while going at a race pace is quite different from the neuromuscular coordination that must be developed during ordinary training.
Typically, at race pace, the swimmer goes all out, his muscles strain to their very limits. However, virtually all of the swimmer's training has been at a more casual training pace. Thus, the neuromuscular coordination developed during training is not the same as that which is needed at race pace. The solution would seem to be obvious, train at race pace. However, as pointed out above, this is impossible because the human body can not withstand constant race pace. The swimmer will approach burn out, possibly become injured and become too fatigued to perform at his best during a race.
The problem, then, would seem to be insurmountable; how can one train such that the necessary muscles, body movement and breathing are extraordinarily coordinated at race pace without over taxing the body. Additionally, the problem is how can the swimmer train for maximum coordination while conditioning the body such that the body is at maximum strength and even peaking during a race.
The instant invention, while seemingly quite simple in design, is in fact an extraordinary solution to a very difficult and complex problem.
Another aspect of competition swimming is remaining conditioned while being injured. A substantial portion of the injuries which occur to swimmers, occur to their shoulders. In the past, a swimmer having only slightly injured shoulder could not hope to train at conditions even approaching race pace. The shoulder would have to heal before the swimmer could hope to regain both his conditioning and coordination.
In effect, the swimmer will give up a substantial portion of his race season because the injury will be devastating to his coordination. While the swimmer can maintain some conditioning by running or lifting weights or using a kick board or doing other exercises that do not involve his shoulders, he can not maintain the coordination of his shoulders, body rotation, kick and breathing unless he can actually swim and use his shoulder.
Many shoulder injuries are slight enough that some light swimming is possible. However, using past training methods, the risk of re-injury was quite great because of the competitive swimmer's strong desire to get back to competition. Using the device of the instant invention, a swimmer is able to train at speeds approaching race pace without placing undue stress on the injured shoulder, such that it becomes re-injured.
Implicit in the instant invention is the recognition that a swimmer puts far less stress on his shoulders during the arm reach when he is planning at a higher level on the water, i.e. when the swimmer is at race pace. The swimmer's arm reaches toward the water at an angle which is far more comfortable, more efficient and less stressful to the shoulders than the arm entry position of the more common training pace. Thus, the instant invention allows the swimmer to continue training at speeds approaching race pace with a minimum risk of re-injuring the injured shoulder.
Swimming is one of the most popular and healthiest forms of recreation available. Many persons learn to swim without proper instruction. As is well known, old habits are difficult to break. Thus, there is an important need to find a device that assists the novice and even the advanced swimmer in developing and continuing the proper swimming technique.
The instant invention employs a swim fin of a particular variety to solve the above problems. While there have been many other swim fins of the type shown in FIG. 1, no known swim fin has been able to accomplish the above. Most swim fins have fin portions which are three to five times the surface area of the foot portion. Such a large fin portion causes too much resistance for the rapid kick motions necessary to swim at race pace. Thus, while such a fin may increase propulsion, it does not allow coordination to swim at race pace.